A Girl's Death Raises Questions About E-Bikes

It's the story of a lawsuit that revolves around a tragedy. As Peter Flax recounts for Bicycling, that tragedy unfolded in January 2021, when 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir hopped aboard an e-bike piloted by a friend. As they rode downhill in their Pacific Palisades neighborhood near Los Angeles, the e-bike picked up speed, and Molly's friend says she could not stop it. When they crashed, Molly's head hit the pavement (she was wearing a helmet), and she never regained consciousness. She was pronounced dead two weeks later. Now Molly's parents, Kaye and Jonathan, are suing manufacturer Rad Power Bikes and alleging a slew of safety issues as well as an overriding complaint that the company doesn't do enough to discourage children from riding its e-bikes.

Flax's story digs into all of the above, with a particular focus on whether the brakes on e-bikes made by Rad Power and other manufacturers aren't up to snuff. The answers aren't clear cut, as Flax talks to experts skeptical about aspects of the legal complaint filed by the Steinsapirs. (Rad Power itself expressed condolences over Molly's death but declined to comment on the litigation.) Flax ticks off some key questions at play: "Should children be allowed to ride e-bikes? How do you balance responsibility between parents and the companies that make those bikes? Should there be significantly more proactive regulation of e-bikes by the government, given that some e-bikes may not be as safe as they should be?" The full story is worth a read, with Flax noting that e-bikes have become an increasingly common mode of transportation even for pre-teens. (More Longform stories.)